No plan to deploy troops to Malacca Strait: U.S.

No plan to deploy troops to Malacca Strait: U.S.

Veeramalla Anjaiah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The United States has no plan to deploy any of its troops to the
Straits of Malacca to flush out terrorists and curb piracy, the
U.S. Ambassador to Indonesia Ralph L. Boyce said in Jakarta.

"Admiral (Thomas B.) Fargo never said the U.S. was going to
send its marines or special forces to the Straits of Malacca. The
AFP story ... was misleading," Boyce said on Monday.

Boyce was referring to a statement made by the head of the
Hawaii-based U.S. Pacific Command during a congressional hearing
in Washington on March 31. The AFP news agency carried a story on
April 4 quoting Fargo's speech. The report said the U.S. planned
(initially AFP used the word 'plans' and later revised it to
'considers'-- Editor) to deploy marines and special operations
forces along the Straits of Malacca -- the world's busiest
waterways -- to flush out terrorists.

"He (Fargo) said there is an initiative with countries in the
region to work together in cooperation -- and only obviously at
the invitation of the countries like Malaysia, Singapore or
Indonesia -- to address transnational threats in some joint
fashion," Boyce said.

"Fargo was speaking in a congressional hearing purely
hypothetically. How could we make a unilateral proposal like that
without the close cooperation and support of the elements in the
region? It doesn't make any sense. There is nothing the
government of Indonesia or Malaysia needs to reject, because
there is no proposal and there is no plan. They know about that
already," the ambassador said.

On April 10, Indonesian Navy chief Adm. Bernard Kent Sondakh
rejected Adm. Fargo's suggestions, calling the idea "baseless."

The Indonesian Navy was capable of securing the Straits of
Malacca, Bernard said.

Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak has also said his
country had no plans to seek U.S. help to guard the Malacca
Straits against possible attacks on ships by terrorists.

The task of guarding the Malacca Strait was the joint
responsibility of Malaysia and Indonesia, Najib said.

Boyce said the U.S. wanted to work with governments in the
region on a multilateral basis to deal with transnational crimes.

Fargo, he said, was speaking about the U.S. Regional Maritime
Security Initiative (RMSI), a multi-year program designed to deal
with transnational threats and crime on the seas.

Boyce said the U.S. was involved in early dialog with
Southeast Asian countries to discuss how they could jointly
address these threats.

"They (the talks) are in a very, very preliminary stage," he
said.

The RMSI is intended to facilitate information sharing and law
enforcement activities between participating nations to monitor,
identify and intercept suspect vessels and activities in national
and international waters.